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VR: Sakura

Building Virtual World Round 2, CMU ETC, Fall 2021

Tags: VR, Exploration, Zen
Goal: Indirect control & naive guests
Platform: Unity 3D, Quest 2

Role: Designer & Programmer
Time: 2 weeks
Team: 5

Responsibility:
     Iterate level design and related C# coding
     Floating, Vortex of stones, etc.
     In-game Post-Effect & Visual Changes
 

Sakura is a VR game about flying & Zen experience.

Sakura, also named Cherry Blossom, which means the time of renewal.

I practice level design, iteration after playtesting, and indirect control during this project.

Designer part responsibility:

FeedBack.png

Player

Sound feedback and visual feedback(Disappearing of purple stone, new particles around the player) after collecting the stone, give the player positive feedback, let the player/guest know his/her goal in this game.

Memory_Stone.png

Indirect Control

A keep-spinning shiny stone with a contrasting color in this world. It just stands ahead of the guest at the beginning, waiting for the guest to collect.

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During the process of the player going through different islands, there will be more and more floating stones around the island as obstacles to the player.
Some are just floating up and down at first, later these obstacles will start orbiting around the Island to be more dynamic and dangerous.

Level

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4.png
Sakura_spiral_level.png

Iteration

sakura_linear_level.png

Level Design kept iterating after playtesting. We invited naive guest who has no experience in VR and games to playtest our game. Our original plan is to create a spiral-shape layout of small islands, lead the player go to the final big island, and find out it is actually above the player's start point.

But 66% of our naive guests pointed out that they are not satisfied with turning back in this VR & flying world. So I changed the level to a more linear way and be more friendly to the naive guests.

Naive Guests: People who are not typical players, not familiar with game, controller, VR, etc. 

Climax.png

Climax & Resolution

Resolution.png

From grave to tree, from dark to colorful, everything is renewal.

Predict Naive Player Behavior

Interim (week 1) Interaction Map

Soul_Interim_InteractionMap.png

Final (week 2) Interaction Map

Soul_Final_InteractionMap.png

​Responsibility:
Worked as a level designer and programmer focusing on level design and related scripting.
Including floating, vortex of stones, spinning, and other level mechanics.

Team:
Developed during the course Building Virtual World with 4 other members.
2 programmers + 2artists  + 1 sound designer in total. My role in BVW: programmer.
 

assignment.png

If we had one more week:
#1: More complex levels after the straight line one. The straight line one can be the tutorial to guide naive players go through this game.
#2: Make Islands initially invisible except the first one, the other islands will appear one by one when the player completes the previous island. This action will reduce the player's freedom, but they will be motivated to look around and explore the world, instead of moving in the same direction. We wanted players to enjoy exploring this world and bring a Zen experience to them.
 

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